


The Mimic

by Igniferrus



Series: Shared Blood [3]
Category: InuYasha - A Feudal Fairy Tale
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Fluff, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-24
Updated: 2019-11-24
Packaged: 2021-02-26 07:40:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,954
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21550030
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Igniferrus/pseuds/Igniferrus
Summary: Inuyasha requests a change of hairstyle. Sesshomaru learns something everyone else already knew.
Relationships: InuYasha & Sesshoumaru (InuYasha)
Series: Shared Blood [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1517483
Comments: 10
Kudos: 165





	The Mimic

**Author's Note:**

> Here we are again! This series wasn't originally going to have a running theme for the titles, but it kind of happened accidentally and I think I'm going to stick with it.  
> This one's a little shorter, but we're still building that brotherly relationship.

Small children often cried, Touga knew, as their young minds were ill equipped for dealing with their emotions, many of which they didn't even understand. This knowledge did not make the fact that Inuyasha had begun every morning that week by full on bawling before breakfast any easier. 

Touga followed the sound of crying to find both Inuyasha and Satomi in the boy's room, seated together with Satomi trying to brush his hair. Over the constant sobs, Satomi kept a running commentary in a light voice, clearly trying to calm Inuyasha. Touga could hear the underlying strain, as a large amount of work had forced him to leave Satomi to bear the brunt of the daily temper tantrums. Luckily, he was free today and could give his wife a well deserved break. Touga crouched in front of where Inuyasha sat despondently on the floor.

"Hey, buddy," Touga said softly, running a hand over Inuyasha's head. "What's the matter?"

"I'm sad," Inuyasha responded, a tad unnecessarily, clumsily wiping at the tears on his face with an open palm.

"Why are you sad?" Touga asked, still speaking very gently. 

"I- I- I w-want… I just… I _am_ sad," Inuyasha managed to get out between sobs. 

Unsure of what else to do, Touga lifted him into his arms. "Why don't we go get you something to drink to help you calm down?"

Inuyasha's only response was to nod and bury his damp face against his father's shoulder. 

By the time Inuyasha's crying has settled into infrequent hiccups and the green tea they were drinking cooled to lukewarm, Touga was still nowhere near figuring out the reason for Inuyasha's sadness. Just as he was debating with himself on the merits of bringing it up again and risking setting Inuyasha off again, Satomi entered the room — looking much more refreshed and calmed than she had earlier. In her hand she still held Inuyasha’s hairbrush and a hair tie. 

The sound of the sliding door alerted Inuyasha to her entrance; first his little ears perked up at, then he raised his rubbed raw eyes to look at her. The second he saw the items in her hand, his eyes began to fill with tears again. Satomi noticed this immediately, and placed the brush and tie on the ground before sweeping over to Inuyasha, a look of concern on her face. She knelt next to where he was perched on his father’s lap, and thumbed a few tears off his cheek. 

“Inuyasha? Do you not like the hairbrush?” she asked, then with sudden inspiration turned her attention to his soft puppy ears. “Does the hairbrush hurt your ears?”

As soon as she asked it, Touga was struck by the logic of the question. Inuyasha only cried like that in the morning, when Satomi was brushing his hair, and it was possible that his unique ears would pose problems neither of his parents had ever thought of. Touga was silently congratulating his wife on her stellar deduction when he Inuyasha emphatically shook his head. 

“I _like_ the hairbrush. It feels nice and it makes me sleepy,” Inuyasha sniffled, then he pointed firmly. “I _don’t_ like that!” 

Both Touga and Satomi followed his finger and saw the hairbrush. They exchanged puzzled looks over Inuyasha’s head. 

“Sweetheart,” Satomi tried, “you’re pointing at the hairbrush.” 

“No, Mother! That thing!” the tears were beginning to pick up again, and Inuyasha’s voice grew thick. “The thing you put on my head _everyday_ and I don’t want it!” 

A deep sigh escaped Touga, and he turned Inuyasha in his lap to face him. He had made the connection that “the thing” was the hair tie Satomi used every morning to pull Inuyasha’s hair out of his face. 

“You cry every morning because you don’t want a ponytail?” Touga asked a little flatly, trying to remember that his tiny son didn’t know any better and wasn’t trying to be difficult. He also tried valiantly to ignore Satomi giggling from behind her hand. 

“Yes!” Inuyasha seemed cheered by the fact that someone had finally understood, and the tears had all but vanished. 

“Don’t you like having a ponytail? It keeps your hair nice and neat, and out of your face. It also makes you look like Father. Don’t you like looking like Father everyday?” coaxed Touga, trying to convince Inuyasha to keep the style since it was so convenient for his parents. 

“Well, I don’t want to look like you,” Inuyasha half-answered with a little shrug, playing with his tea cup. 

Touga was unable to stop the flash of hurt that followed his son’s casual dismissal, but pushed it aside as it came from a puppy, who was by nature of his age rather fickle. 

"What do you want to do with your hair, if you don't want a ponytail?" Touga asked, deftly snatching up the wobbling cup before it could spill. 

"I want it just like this, Father," said Inuyasha, gesturing vaguely at his own head. 

Touga blinked, then resisted the urge to roll his eyes at what was certainly coming next. "You want it loose, puppy?"

"Yes!" came the absolutely gleeful response, "Loose like Aniki's!"

Naturally. Inuyasha had always been fascinated by his brother, and when Sesshomaru had picked him up that one time Inuyasha had broken his arm, the fascination had only grown. Sesshomaru, for his part, had remained just as disinterested and annoyed by his brother as ever. Touga had no idea what Sesshomaru would think of this new mimicry; most would be flattered, but one never knew with Sesshomaru. 

The knowing look on Satomi's face suggested she was thinking the same thing. Rather than bursting Inuyasha's bubble, she simply brushed a few strands out of his face. 

“If that is what you want, you can wear it loose. But you must brush it every morning _and_ night without fuss, understand? No more crying in the morning,” bargained Satomi, which earned her an enthusiastic nod and a grateful hug from Inuyasha. 

“Yes, Mother. I will be good. I will not cry, because I am too big for that,” said Inuyasha solemnly, having apparently already forgot crying that very morning. 

This time, Touga did roll his eyes, luckily out of Inuyasha’s sight. Content with having settled the hair issue, he stood and scooped Inuyasha up. 

“Come, you two. We’ve spent enough time on this matter this morning. I’m sure breakfast must have been served already and Aniki is waiting for us,” with that, Touga led them from the room, struggling with a suddenly very squirmy Inuyasha. 

“Put me down! I wanna walk!” Inuyasha cried, then after a look from Satomi he added in a much nicer tone of voice, “Please, Father!” 

“No. You get distracted and wander off, and we’re already late for breakfast,” replied Touga, getting a firmer grip on Inuyasha. 

“Can’t be late for breakfast. It doesn’t start ‘til you get there,” sulked Inuyasha, and Touga decided to maturely ignore the fact that he was right. 

Inuyasha still had a sulky look on his face when they arrived for breakfast. If Sesshomaru was surprised to see his parents arriving uncommonly late holding an unhappy puppy, he did not show it. In fact, he did not acknowledge their presence beyond a soft, polite greeting. As they sat, Sesshomaru took the tea from the brazier and filled their cups. 

The moment Touga was settled, servants entered to set out the food, then quickly left the family to their meal. Choosing to interpret Inuyasha’s triumphant pointing as a request for help dishing up, Touga gave him a portion of rice and fish and helped situate the chopsticks in his hand. Any complaints Inuyasha might have had were silenced as he happily took to making a mess with his breakfast. 

After serving himself a more complex meal, Touga turned his attention to his other son. In stark contrast to Inuyasha, Sesshomaru’s every movement was fluid and precise, and he most certainly did not drop half his food every time he tried to take a bite. Touga grinned a little at the amusing image the pair of them made, sitting beside each other. 

“Did you sleep well, Sessho?” Touga asked. 

“I did not sleep,” Sesshomaru replied crisply. 

“What did you do last night, then?” Touga could see the minute changes his follow-up question wrought in Sesshomaru, the subtle tensing of his jaw and how he angled his shoulders away from his father. He grit his teeth in frustration at Sesshomaru’s closed off demeanour, which was becoming increasingly common, even towards Touga. 

“I studied,” Sesshomaru bit out, just close enough to polite to avoid remonstration. Satomi and Touga shared a look, unsure of what was driving the strange changes in their son. 

“It’s good to strive for self-improvement; your father and I are glad you’ve taken that lesson to heart,” she told Sesshomaru, though the praise did nothing to ease his mood. 

When Sesshomaru did not reply, Touga added “It’s only proper of you to take your education seriously,” 

“Hn. Well, in matters of propriety, it falls to me alone to uphold the family name,” Sesshomaru said darkly, then added with vehemence, “You! Don’t you know how improper it is to come to a meal before you finish readying yourself for the day?” 

Inuyasha looked up from his bowl in wide-eyed surprise, likely shocked that Sesshomaru had addressed him first out of his own free will. He blinked slowly at the disapproving finger Sesshomaru had directed at his face. 

“I _am_ ready, Aniki,” Inuyasha held out his arms and gestured at his own sleeves. “See? Day clothes,” 

“No, pest. Your hair. Why didn’t you let Mother pull it back before breakfast?” demanded Sesshomaru, still pointing quite menacingly. 

“Oh. I just wear it like you now,” explained Inuyasha nonchalantly, patting his own head and getting rice stuck in the strands. “Do you like it, Aniki?”

Sesshomaru’s eyes narrowed, and Touga felt his heart sink. It appeared that Sesshomaru was not going to take this as the compliment he should, and instead use it to fuel whatever hatred he held for Inuyasha. 

“Inuyasha…” Sesshomaru began in a dangerous tone, “Why are you copying my hair?” 

“Because I love you, Aniki!” Inuyasha replied with a wide smile, entirely oblivious to Sesshomaru’s dark mood. 

The only indication that Sesshomaru had heard Inuyasha at all was that his eyes widened and all the tension left his jaw, otherwise he seemed to be a statue. Inuyasha, used to dismissals from Sesshomaru coming in the form of a sudden silent treatment, simply got up announced his intention to go play in the garden. 

After Inuyasha’s departure, Touga stared at Sesshomaru, fighting back his laughter. Satomi wasn’t so kind, and had dissolved into a near hysterical fit of giggles. It was hard to blame her, Sesshomaru hadn’t looked that ridiculous in probably centuries; sitting completely still in the midst of the rice chaos caused by Inuyasha’s eating technique, finger aloft and pointing at nothing, with a subtle look of confusion on his face.

When even a full minute of his mother’s laughter failed to rouse Sesshomaru from his state of shock, Touga took the opportunity to ruffle his son’s hair like he was still a child. 

“Did you really not know?” Touga couldn’t help the chuckle that slipped out at the prospect that his clever son had no idea that his own brother liked him. 

Rather than answer, Sesshomaru smacked his father’s hand off his head, stood up and stormed out. Once Touga were sure Sesshomaru had gone far enough away that he couldn’t hear, he too, gave into the laughter that had long since claimed Satomi. 

The morning had turned out far better than he could have hoped.

**Author's Note:**

> Inuyasha: I love you.  
> Sesshomaru: *Sesshomaru.exe has stopped working.*


End file.
